12-hour power shutdown to hit parts of Leyte, entire Samar Island

TACLOBAN CITY, Feb. 25 (PNA) -- Nearly half of the Eastern Visayas region’s households and businesses will suffer 12-hour power interruptions on Sunday (Feb. 26) due to the transfer of conductors from the emergency restoration system (ERS) to permanent towers.

The entire Samar Island and some parts of Leyte, including the regional capital, will experience a power outage from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ (NGCP) said in a notice dated February 24.

The outage will disrupt Saturday activities of 349,609 households and business establishments in Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and some parts of northern Leyte. The figure represents 44.59 percent of the region’s 784,069 total connections as of last year.

“As part of Yolanda-related activities, there will be transfer and replacement of lines from its temporary structures to permanent towers,” the NGCP said.

As an immediate remedy after the monster typhoon, NGCP constructed ERS structures to temporarily replace the damaged backbone.

Specifically, works are concentrated on the transfer of phase AB conductors from the ERS to tower 24-31 and replacement of phase ABC conductors from tower 33-35 along Ormoc-Babatngon 138 kV line.

Of the 349,609 households and businesses affected, 60,098 are covered by the Leyte II Electric Cooperative; 68,223 by Northern Samar Electric Cooperative; 57,611 by Samar I Electric Cooperative; 75,362 by Samar II Electric Cooperative; and 88,315 by Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative.

The power supply in Eastern Visayas is generated solely from the Leyte Tongonan Geothermal Field, which has a total capacity of 699.4 megawatts, more than enough to supply the region's power requirements. (PNA)

CVL/SARWELL Q. MENIANO